By David Liu PHD

Saturday July 14, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) Doctors do not have a cure for brain disorders like Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia which strokes people often at 65 or older.  But new research released in the July 9, 2012 issue of Nutritional Neuroscience found simply taking as much as 4.5 grams of heat-processed ginseng can significantly improve cognition in Alzheimer's patients. 

J.H. Heo and colleagues tested a heat-processed form of gingseng that contains more potent ginsenosides than raw ginseng in 40 patients with moderately severe Alzheimer's disease to see how this alternative treatment may help cognitive impairment in the patients.

The researchers found that those taking 45 grams of heat-processed ginseng experienced improvements in the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale cognitive and non-cognitive scores and also the score of Mini-Mental State Examination starting at 3 months of supplementation.  The efficacy sustained during the follow-up of six months.

The authors concluded that "these results demonstrate the potential efficacy of a heat-processed form of ginseng on cognitive function and behavioral symptoms in patients with moderately severe AD (Alzheimer's disease)."

K.S. Kang of University of Toyama in Toyama Japan and colleagues found heat-processed ginseng and a ginseng compound called ginsenoside 20(s)-Rg(3) can also prevent the progression of renal damage and dysfunction in type 2 diabetes rats.

The study published in 2011 in Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin found the ginsenoside renders the efficacy by inhibiting oxidative stress and advanced glycation endproduct formation.

Heat-processed ginseng may also help prevent prostate cancer, breast cancer and diabetes, according to previous studies.